Sneaking more fiber into your diet may have another woman’s health benefit

Dietary fiber is one of the best ways to fill up without filling out, which makes it ideal for swimsuit season. 

“We don’t always give fiber the credit it deserves,” comments Lisa Leslie-Williams, BS, PharmD, a pharmacist-turned-lifestyle expert. As she told ABC-TV viewers of Your California Live, ““Fiber helps with bloating. It helps to get your GI system moving. And it helps your overall wellness.”  

But sometimes you may fall short on your fiber intake, even as you load up on fruit and vegetables. Leslie-Williams suggests scooping Sunfiber into your favorite sweet or savory foods. “I like to add a few scoops of Sunfiber into my grain-free, gluten-free banana chocolate chip muffins but you can also add it to just about anything including your morning coffee or tea.”

She continued praising Sunfiber during an ABC-TV interview on AM Northwest, saying it is  quick and easy to use.  “It’s non-gritty. It’s flavorless and it’s odorless,” she explained.  

During both interviews, Leslie-Williams also referenced a small preliminary study connecting a woman’s gut microbiome with her ability to conceive. In the study, published by the Journal of Chemical Biochemistry Nutrition, Japanese researchers analyzed the gut microbiomes of 18 fertile and 18 infertile women. They found that the infertile women had different gut microbiome compositions compared with fertile women, indicating the gut microbiome may play a role in fertility. 

To examine the impact of prebiotic fiber on fertility, researchers in this pilot study had 12 of the infertile women consume 10 grams of prebiotic PHGG (Sunfiber) while attempting to conceive through in vitro fertilization. Sunfiber is a powerful prebiotic known to nourish Bifidobacterium. 

Comparing the gut microbiota of women with successful pregnancies and those with unsuccessful IVF treatments, pregnant women had a higher percentage of Bifidobacterium along with a lower abundance of Paraprevotella and Blautia, before and after PHGG consumption. 

While these early results are very encouraging, additional work is needed to confirm the findings.